Languages, Explosions, and Monsters: Oh My!
by Niteflite
Summary: Chapter 3 is up! Finally! We've got Remy! Also, Doug Ramsey and Tarot from New Mutants. I promise, not a self-insert! Rating for slightest amount of swearing.
1. Introductions

Languages, Explosions, and Monsters: Oh My!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men Evo. I am making absolutely no money, and I am wasting time I could spend working. But it is a Labor of Love!  
  
A/N: If you are one of the sorts of readers who likes speedy updates, I suggest that you please remain patient. I am not a speedy writer. And if anyone knows Tarot's street name, tell me!  
  
Chapter 1: Introductions  
  
Xavier scanned the three new recruits, wondering what he was getting into. The teen-aged boy in the trench coat expertly brushed the other guy, and went rifling through his wallet. Upon seeing this, the victim began telling the thief off in French. The girl simply shuffled a deck of tarot cards while managing to look snobby at the same time.  
  
"You three are the newest." They didn't stop to listen to his pearls of wisdom, so Xavier got their attention mentally, first. "Now, you three each have unique talents which set you apart from-"  
  
"The little people?" the girl interjected. She looked at the other two, clearly communicating how she couldn't see these boys as anything but little.  
  
"Anne, I was going to say 'most of the earth's population'. Your powers of combustion, translation, and materialization are volatile and need extra training."  
  
The thief pointed at the blond boy. "Excusez-moi, but translator?"  
  
"Yeah, so people can understand you, voleur."  
  
Xavier started to defuse the situation. "Remy, Doug, please.." Remy disregarded the professor as he charged up a playing card. Doug's eyes widened as he realized that is power couldn't counteract explosions. Anne's aloofness melted a bit while she watched the guys squabble.  
  
**  
  
Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Kitty, Jubilee, Bobby, Roberto, and Rahne were trying to learn anything they could about the newest students. So far, they knew that at least one guy could be gotten to help with French homework, the girl would be the one to beg for lunch money, and don't approach the guy with the southern-ish French accent for anything.  
  
"What a snot!" Bobby said under his breath. " 'The little people'! I'd like to see her use her powers with frosty fingers."  
  
"I'd like to see them, period," Rahne added.  
  
'Yeah, I mean, like what if one of them is totally cute?"  
  
"Careful, Kitty-kat," Roberto whispered. "You already have your little Quakey. Don't get greedy."  
  
"Why don't you phase through, phase back?" Jubilee whispered. "Then we'll find out."  
  
"Like, yeah, right! I'll look like a total dweeb."  
  
Rahne suggested, "What about you phase through the next person to pass by? That way, us five are all happy."  
  
Roberto clapped her on the shoulder. "Malicious and self-centered. I knew you were the brains."  
  
At that moment, Rogue came walking down the hallway. Kitty ran up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Like, talk about timing!" She continued to steer the confused Rogue towards the door the others had cleared away from. "We're all too shy, but since you, like, obviously don't care about your image." She then pushed and phased Rogue through the door. ".you can scope them out for us."  
  
**  
  
She only got out a startled yelp before she found herself in the room with Xavier and his new recruits. This blond kid was pleading in all intelligible languages, even resorting to squawks and squeaks. He looked to be the average good kid.  
  
The girl in the room had red hair reaching just below shoulder length. Everything about her screamed, "ROB ME". The only tattered thing even near her was her deck of fortune-telling cards, which were practically destroyed from constant use.  
  
The last guy, with a red-hot King of hearts in his hand (oh, the irony) she could describe in no other way than Grrowll! The way his clothes fit, his trench coat, the sexy sunglasses, and his hair falling in the face all added up to make her weak in the knees.  
  
"Proffesah, Ah, Ah," Rogue stammered, saying the first thing that popped in her mind. "Ah'm gonna kill Kitty!"  
  
The hottie took off his sunglasses. 'Now, chère, y' can just tell Gambit y'r problems." She was somewhat placated by his words, (and what a cute accent!) but the way his red and black eyes traveled her body made her even more uncomfortable.  
  
Then, adding insult to injury, he liked his lips!  
  
Disgusted, she turned around and exited.  
  
Or would have, if the door hadn't stopped her.  
  
She rubbed her poor nose with her gloved hand and opened the door. After muttering, "Ah meant ta do that," she exited, feeling like a fool.  
  
"Cheerrup?" Doug shook his head. "Qui était ça?" He blinked; glad to have at least spoken a human language this time.  
  
"Une belle femme. Y'll stay away from her, n'est-ce pas?"  
  
Doug tried one more time. "Who was that?" Mental high five!  
  
Xavier answered, with much more useful information. "A student who is called Rogue. Her powers don't include phasing through doors. But judging by what she said, Kitty, another student, pushed her through."  
  
Tarot leaned towards Doug. "I'll give you three guesses to what Kitty wanted to know."  
  
Doug nodded. He was no dummy. She obviously wanted to know how much of a looker he was. He motioned for Tarot and Gambit to move closer. "And I might have an idea on how to show her what she wants to see," he whispered. "Let's make them need a new pair of pants. "You, voleur.umm Gambit, heat up one or two cards and take off your sunglasses."  
  
"Wit' pleasure."  
  
Anne flipped through her cards, pulling out one and showing the strange- looking lion on it. "Luckily, the cads throw up the Lion of Strength." The creature took solid form directly next to her. Both guys stared wide- eyed at this strange power. But hey, the scarier the better, right?  
  
"What are you going to do, translator?" Anne said, her lion snarling at her inflections.  
  
"I'm going to make like the tower of Babel. What else am I good for?"  
  
"Trop vrai," Gambit mumbled as he pushed his glasses on top of his head and got out a couple of cards.  
  
Doug placed his hand on the doorknob, waved the other two closer, and counted on his hand.  
  
One.  
  
Two.  
  
Three.  
  
Chaos!  
  
Gambit went first, and to imagine what the others saw, imagine a demon commando at Mardi Gras. Yeah. That's it.  
  
Tarot's monster followed, letting out judicious roars whenever she snapped her fingers.  
  
Doug exited the room after her, using sign language and speaking a variation of Latin intermingled with Dog that he had learned from the next- door German shepherd. Roughly translated, he said things like: "Oooh, there's five of them," and "They want their mommies." But when considered among the other two, he could have been casting a spell or something.  
  
Needless to say, this intimidated the others. So, what is better defense than a good offense? Nothing.  
  
All of the startled kids with alternate modes instinctually went into them. Rahne became half-wolf, Roberto became Sunspot, and bobby reverted to his ice-form. Sparks sizzled at Jubilee's fingertips and Kitty sank halfway into the floor.  
  
"Mon Dieu," Remy said. "You're like us?"  
  
Tarot put her card back in the deck and the lion disappeared. "Mutants?"  
  
Doug signed and spoke (in English), "Yeah, what else could do that?"  
  
Xavier wheeled himself through the doorway, the students automatically making a pathway for him. "Very astute, students." Xavier addressed all those standing in the hallway. "These are your new classmates. Rahne Sinclair, code named Wolfsbane. Roberto DaCosta, or Sunspot. Also, here is Bobby Drake alias Iceman, Jubilation Lee, who is Jubilee, and Kitty Pryde, or Shadowcat.  
  
As he said the names, they returned to human forms, unsure of how to respond. The most popular response was a sheepish grin.  
  
"And here are Remy LeBeau, Doug Ramsey, and Anne Montgomery." The three acknowledged their names in their own ways: Doug smiled widely and wiggled his fingers in a half-wave, Anne graced them all with a nod, and Remy raised his hand, kinetically charged card and all, to about shoulder height. He tossed the card up, where it exploded.  
  
Bobby (never the shy one) aid, "Hey, nice to meetcha. Mi casa es su casa, now. Professor, d'you think they should meet the others, too?"  
  
Doug nodded. "Sí, Dónde está Rogue?"  
  
Xavier inferred what Doug had said. "We shall soon find out, Doug. Kitty, she's in your shared dormitory. Would you mind getting her?"  
  
"No way, Professor. It's like, really fast my way," Kitty said as she phased through the floor. Professor Xavier went back into his library, leaving the students in the hallway. An awkward silence filled the air, only broken by the rifling of tarot cards.  
  
"Hey, can you tell someone's fortune with those?" Jubilee asked.  
  
The redhead stopped shuffling her cards. "Yes, but unless you want a pack of monsters accompanying the fortune, I wouldn't recommend it."  
  
"Oh." Jubilee looked down, chastised.  
  
"So, ummm," Doug began, trying to break the ice. "What do you do around here for fun?"  
  
Bobby shrugged. "Same thing as most kids do. Go swimming, listen to music."  
  
'Train in the Danger Room." Rahne added.  
  
"Go for field trips cross-country." Roberto said.  
  
"Take the X-jet on a joyride." Jubilee pointed out.  
  
"I don' t'ink dose are what 'mos' kids do'," Remy said, absently cutting a deck of cards and pulling out an Ace of spades.  
  
Kitty came running in at this moment, panting but obviously pleased. "Like, you totally wouldn't believe how hard it was to find her. First I checked our room, because, duh, she's there half the time. Then I looked in the kitchen because, like, what if she was hungry? Then."  
  
"Did you find her, finally?" Rahne asked.  
  
Kitty blinked wide, pseudo-innocent eyes. "Well, yeah. I found her in the rec room."  
  
Rogue came walking in, fuming. And when Rogue isn't happy, nobody is going to be happy. Or else.  
  
Apparently, Remy hadn't been told this. His face lit up a bit when her stormy, rain-cloudy mood entered the premises. She noticed his expression, and since he was the reason for her bad mood, she decided to focus on him. She set her anger to a low simmer as she stared, edging a little closer.  
  
When he saw her move closer, thoughts ran rampant in Remy's head. Was she going to do something to him? When was she going to do something? Where would she take this revenge? What an incredible body! The card in his hand started glowing.  
  
Rogue glared at the Cajun. She hated the way he was looking at her, the fact that he wasn't saying anything, and especially hated him for being so damn attractive.  
  
The other students had been silent for most of this time. Finally, Kitty waved her hand in front of Rogue's face with no result. Emboldened, Bobby did the same in front of Remy's face. He also added, "Woohoo, Earth to lover boy, we're losing you!" This still elicited no response from the twitterpated Cajun, and his card continued to glow hotly.  
  
"Hey, is his card supposed to do that?"  
  
BLAM!  
  
Bobby and Remy both had char all over their faces, as well as bewildered expressions. Rogue stopped scowling in order to hide a giggle behind her hand. Yes, Rogue was giggling.  
  
Now it was Remy's turn to scowl.  
  
"Aww man!" Bobby cried, "You know how long it takes to look this good? My face is ruined!"  
  
"What 'ruined'?" Jubilee teased, "I like the charred look. I could even help you get that look every day!" She touched her fingertip to his nose and created a little, tiny spark, just enough to blacken the tip of his nose.  
  
"That's it!" Bobby threw a snowball at the girl. She responded with pyrotechnics. "Power war!"  
  
Remy glared at Rogue. What was she doing, laughing at his expense! Hadn't her powers ever been a bit out of control? Some smooth operator he was. The pyrotechnics lit her face up in alternating colors. She looked good in all of them. Damn her.  
  
His face was so frickin' funny! The burn-marks offset his red, angry eyes. And that look he had had on his face! Obviously, he hadn't planned on being the entertainment. But Rogue couldn't stop laughing, especially when a snowball hit him in the back of the head!  
  
Storm walked into the hallway at this very opportune moment. What she saw was carefully controlled chaos. She supposed that it was good that the new students were so readily welcomed, but not at the expense of the hallway.  
  
"Students, is this the way X-men should act?" Storm spoke quietly, but a tendril of wind brought her voice clearly to each ear. There are more ways to influence people than psychic powers.  
  
The ice balls and fireworks stopped almost instantaneously. "Thank you," Ororo said. "Now, please clean up this hallway so that you can go outside and get acquainted at the expense of trees, and not our defenseless hallways."  
  
Roberto bristled a bit. He hadn't done anything! He deserved to complain. "Awww! Auntie O!"  
  
Lightning energy crackled around Storm and the wind picked up. "NO ONE BUT EVAN CAN CALL ME THAT! GO. TO. YOUR. ROOM."  
  
The hallway was immediately deserted. Kind-hearted kids had steered the three newbies in the right direction before running off.  
  
**  
  
Doug had finally finished putting his stuff into drawers and the closet that he shared with Bobby. Man, this was great! He really got along well with the guy, even when he couldn't switch his brain to the right language.  
  
"Well, that's just about everything," he said, scratching his head. "But there's something wrong!"  
  
Bobby looked at both sides of the room. His side was a veritable minefield. Doug's half would have passed a military inspection.  
  
"Ah-ha!" The blond kid pulled out one of his drawers and scattered his clothes all over the floor. "There! All done!" ~Mental high five! Wait, I don't have to do that.~  
  
"High five!" Both guys made for each other with their hands in the classic high-five pose.  
  
And they kept going. They had missed each other by a mile.  
  
**  
  
Anne pointedly ignored Jubilee as she put up her framed poster of N*Sync. It had sing names all along the border: Chris (something), J.C. (something else), and so on and so forth. All she was missing was Justin! Sigh! He is an egomaniac jerk, granted, but oh, what a cutie! (Author's note: Make me barf! Please! I just WROTE this dribble! You only have to READ it! You can skip over it any time you like!)  
  
Jubes glared at Anne, and popped a CD into her little boom box. The grating tones of the Backstreet Boys filled the room. She sat on her bed, glaring a challenge at Anne.  
  
Anne all but leaped for her N*Sync CD, and jammed it into her sound system. Not boom box, sound system. Now, the hallway had not only "Backstreet's back, all right!" to deal with, it was mixed with the prepubescent wailings of "I want it that way!"  
  
The two fans sat on their beds, each shooting daggers at the other with their eyes.  
  
Evan strolled by the room, and hearing what seemed to be the same sounds coming from each box, called, "Hey Anne, Jubes! It's great you both like the same music!"  
  
"SHUT UP!" A barrage of powers came out of the doorway at Evan, who had the decency to run.  
  
**  
  
Remy was settling in nicely as well. For some strange reason, he had to share the room with the squarest guy in the Institute.  
  
"Remy, I don't care how you like your room decorated, NO MORE EXPLOSIONS! They're ruining my side of the room!"  
  
Right, and this was coming from the guy who had a poster-sized picture of that red-haired chick right next to his signed photo of Captain Kangaroo.  
  
"Didn't I just say-"  
  
"Oui." Remy charged a card.  
  
"And what are you going to do about it?"  
  
He tossed the card towards a white spot on is wall, where it left a nice black mark. "Ça."  
  
"Arrgh!" Scott stormed out of the room, obviously heading for Jean's room. Pity they didn't actually do anything.  
  
Remy shrugged, and charged another card. Rogue and another girl he couldn't recognize slowed down near the doorway, curious about the noise coming from inside. He stared up at the ceiling and decided it wasn't the right shade of burn, and tossed the card upwards. The explosion made Rogue yelp and jump a little. Amara simply giggled.  
  
"You should have seen your face!" she said, pointing at Rogue. Remy looked at the doorway to see a blushing Rogue. The color did wonders for her already beautiful face.  
  
"Did I scare y' chère?"  
  
Rogue pouted. "No! C'mon, Amara." She started to turn away, but the toe of her right foot got caught behind the heel of her left foot. In layman's terms, she kissed the carpet.  
  
Remy made his way over to her, his chivalrous side poking through. When he reached out to help her up, she smacked his hand away and ran. Amara shrugged, and hurried after her.  
  
"Mebbe next time, Gambit use some of de charm. Don't work wit'out."  
  
A/N: Sorry I didn't have translations before. I have edited my existing chapters. A glossary will be at the end of every chapter from now on.  
  
Excusez-moi: excuse me (French)  
  
Voleur: thief (French)  
  
Chère: dear (French)  
  
Cheerrup?: Who was that? (Sparrow)  
  
Qui était ça?: Who was that? (French)  
  
Une belle femme: a beautiful woman (French)  
  
n'est-ce pas?: right? rhetorical question (That's yours, right?) (French)  
  
Trop vrai: too true (French)  
  
Mon Dieu: my God (French)  
  
Mi casa es su casa: my home is your home (Spanish)  
  
Sí, Dónde está Rogue?: Yes, where is Rogue? (Spanish)  
  
Oui: yes (French)  
  
Ça: that (French) 


	2. Monday What fun

A/N: Don't own anything. Well, maybe what characters say. I thank my friend Flyby for reading this and reading this, and reading this again. She also came up with most of the ideas while we walk home. I also thank my sister Rainbowings and her associates (Tubby, Teddy, and Bird) for putting up with me. Yes, it is child abuse. I promise to read your stuff. Honest.  
  
*emphasis*  
  
~thought~  
  
Chapter 2: Monday. What fun.  
  
Tarot was not having a good day.  
  
Bzzzzt!  
  
"Not now." She whapped her pillow on the offending clock. Stupid clock sounds so freaking cheerful in the mornings.  
  
Grr. Morning. Anne checked her internal clock.  
  
Triple grr. Monday morning. Anne slipped back into oblivion.  
  
And of course, Jubilee's clock radio turned on. Of course, it had to be the Backstreet Boys.  
  
Definitely not a good day.  
  
**  
  
Doug woke up immediately when he heard Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" over the radio. Great song, great lyrics (when you can understand them) but awful in the beginning of the day. In case you don't know Nirvana, they aren't the type to hop out of bed and yell, "Good morning! I love you all!" Well, maybe if they were on some really good drugs.  
  
Anyway, back to Doug. He jumped out of bed, energized and ready to greet the new day. Then he remembered the day. ~I went to sleep on Sunday, so today is. Monday. Shoot.~ Doug slumped back onto his bed, getting into the Monday spirit.  
  
"Might as well take my shower," he sighed. He grabbed a towel and change of clothes and headed for the line to the bathroom nearest his room.  
  
**  
  
Scott's alarm went off, yanking Remy away from an interesting dream concerning Rogue. He tossed a pillow at the offending alarm, and instead hit Scott.  
  
"Hey!"  
  
"Turn off that damn cloche!"  
  
"Why not get up?"  
  
"Monday."  
  
"Oh." Scott reached out of his covers and turned off the alarm.  
  
**  
  
Doug finally got most of his morning routine finished and headed to the kitchen to complete the most important ritual: breakfast. Evan was already seated with a bowl of dry cereal, staring at the milk carton. It was too early in the morning to do something as complicated as pouring milk. Oh well. Dry cereal tastes the same, right? Evan scooped up a spoonful and shoveled it into his mouth. Nope. Needs milk.  
  
Helpful as always, Doug silently offered to pour the milk for Evan. Most of the liquid made it into the bowl, too. Evan eloquently expressed his appreciation.  
  
"Uhnn."  
  
Doug responded in the same language.  
  
"Euhr." He managed to get peanut butter on two halves of a croissant, and sat down. It was still too early to eat the food.  
  
Anne finally came to the dining room to get some of her personal cereal for breakfast. Yes, personal cereal. The box was empty, and Evan was munching on some pretty incriminating cereal.  
  
"It's okay," Doug said, "I'll share."  
  
"No, I'm having toast, anyway," she answered, glaring daggers at both guys. They decided it was too early to be intimidated.  
  
Rogue entered the kitchen, coincidentally at the same time as Remy. Each made a beeline for the coffee machine. Mmm, caffeine. They continued towards the coffee maker and smacked right into each other.  
  
Rogue pushed away groggily. No matter how she wanted to kill him, she didn't want to drain him. Having his consciousness swimming around inside her would be claustrophobic.  
  
Remy took this rejection easily, considering it was too early to be confused. He just needed his caffeine. Remy reached for the brewing pot.  
  
The smell of sulfur filled the air as Kurt teleported in between them. He smiled cheerfully as he snatched the coffee pot from the two of them.  
  
"Danke." He grabbed some pastries that were conveniently laid out near the caffeine. "Beautiful morning, isn't it?" He poured a half-mug of coffee for himself, and filled the rest of the mug with sweetener.  
  
"Oh," he said, innocently, "Did you want some coffee?"  
  
Gambit growled. Did this elf *want* an early grave?  
  
"Kurt," Rogue muttered, her hands clasped behind her back.  
  
"Vhat?" he replied, mouth full of food.  
  
She revealed her bare hands. "Run."  
  
Kurt followed her expert advice, keeping his food balanced all the way.  
  
Remy poured two mugs of black coffee, and handed Rogue the one that had a smiley face on it. She deserved that one.  
  
**  
  
Somehow, everyone made it to school on time. Once Scott finished parking his convertible, the passengers jumped out. That car is supposed to seat six comfortably, correct? Well, I counted, and doggone it, if there weren't twelve people in that convertible!  
  
Anne locked her Schwinn (fancy rich peopley bike) up at the bike rack, and shouldered her book bag. Time to start another week of school. The boys and she had been going to this high school for a week, and students still kept a five-foot parameter around her while she walked. Admitted, Tarot liked the space, but were these people so afraid of money?  
  
The whine of a small engine grew closer, and she groaned. He always seemed to follow her everywhere.  
  
"Hey Anne! Wow, we showed up at the same time! Imagine that!" Doug parked his gas-powered scooter and took off his helmet.  
  
"Yeah. Imagine." Anne stormed past Doug. This guy just won't take a hint! Doug shrugged and turned to locking up his scooter.  
  
**  
  
Kurt plopped himself next to Rogue in the quad and opened up his lunch satchel. The elf had his usual rations: the complete contents of the Institute fridge. "Vhat do you zink of Gambit?"  
  
Rogue's head shot up from the book she was reading. "What? Who?"  
  
"You know." Kurt clasped his hands and blinked wide lovesick eyes. He sang, "Ga-ambit!"  
  
Rogue playfully swung at Kurt, who easily dodged her hand. She opened her mouth to say something just as someone moved in her peripheral view. Her mouth remained suspended as Remy walked toward the two. Kurt grinned and was about to say something when his foot was stomped on unpredictably.  
  
Rogue gave him a warning glance and glowered at Remy. "What d' YOU want, swamp rat?"  
  
Remy smirked and relaxed on the bench between the two students. Rogue remained where she was, but Kurt was crowded off the end of the seat. He landed with an abrupt thump on the cement.  
  
"J'st wanted t' talk," the Cajun drawled.  
  
"Vell, I'll leave you two to do zat!" Kurt danced away, enduring the glare shooting from Rogue's eyes.  
  
"What about?" Rogue said snappily.  
  
"About." Remy retraced the line of thought. He had never gotten this far in a conversation with Rogue before. "Math."  
  
"What math ya in?"  
  
"Trig."  
  
"So'm Ah. Ah'm not tha-"  
  
Remy cut in. "Gambit's worse." He laced his words with his charm and used puppy-dog eyes. He only used this evil combination in desperate times. "Tutor me? Please?"  
  
Rogue's voice became monotone. "Aww, ya poah baby. Ah'll help ha." Blink. "What are ya still doin' here?"  
  
"Merci, chère! Gambit meet y' after school fo' de firs' math lesson."  
  
Rogue put her hand to her head. She knew she must have agreed to something, but she couldn't exactly remember the last six seconds. ~He really pulled one ovah on me. But can Ah blame him? Just look at that cute butt.~ Rogue followed her own advice. It *was* cute. ~No! Stop thinking that!~  
  
**  
  
Anne sat in the cafeteria, calmly munching her lunch. The table she was seated at was the only clear one. Tables to the left and to the right were filled to capacity, but no one would dare sit next to the mean rich witch.  
  
"Hey, Anne!" She groaned. Not now. Any other time was almost acceptable, but she didn't want to deal with Doug now.  
  
"That's great! Plenty of room for me!" Doug sat himself down and pulled out a peanut butter sandwich. "Want a bite?"  
  
"Good for you." She packed her stuff up and left in a matter of seconds. Immediately, the lunch table filled up.  
  
**  
  
Rogue sat at the dining room table with Kitty, sometimes studying, sometimes chatting. There was a big Chem test coming up, and neither girl could really afford anything lower than a B.  
  
"Like, Lance called yesterday."  
  
"Really? Great. What's th' difference between alcohols an' ketones, again?"  
  
Kitty twirled a hair around her index finger. "Umm. Alcohols are easier to draw?"  
  
Rogue studied the diagrams, "Well, yeah, but what are the molecular differences?"  
  
Kitty shrugged. "That's why we're studying. Can I see?" Rogue passed her the paper. "Ohhh. right! Anyway, Lance was saying that that Remy guy is in his math class. This isn't an aldehyde?"  
  
"No, it's a ketone. Yeah, Ah think Ah'm helpin' him with his homework."  
  
"Where is he?"  
  
A big fat textbook was dropped on the table next to Rogue. "Gambit here fo' his lesson." He looked at Rogue's face. "Y' can't teach wit' y'r bouche open like dat."  
  
Rogue picked her jaw up and opened the book. How come he always caught her like this? Her jaw didn't hit the floor for anyone, even Scott!  
  
"Well, swamp rat, let's start wit' addin' an' subtractin'."  
  
Remy took on an indignant face. "Merde! Gambit know how t' do dat!"  
  
Rogue had an annoyingly calm expression, as she said, "Then what don't ya undahstand, Cajun?"  
  
Remy weighed his options. On the one hand, she was talking to him. On the other, she thought he was stupid. Oh well. He'd be Forrest Gump if it made her talk to him. "De unit circle."  
  
"Wow. We've got a lot o' work ahead o' us. Let's start."  
  
Remy smirked. ~Bien! J'st gotta take it slow wit' 'er.~  
  
**  
  
Tarot's day had continued with Doug's constant interruptions, and now, to make it worse, Jubilee was caterwauling along with the Backstreet Boys.  
  
"Backstreet's Back, ALL RIGHT!"  
  
Come on! Those were the only memorable lines in the whole song! All right, let's face it, the whole CD! At least N*Sync had good lyrics, cute singers, great harmonies, cute singers, Justin, and cute singers! The Backstreet Boys were missing every one of these things. They also weren't cute!  
  
Doug passed by, chatting with Roberto in Spanish. Tarot saw him immediately and lashed out.  
  
"If you so much as say ONE MORE WORD to me, I will personally se to it that Death follows you for the rest of your days! DO YOU HEAR ME?"  
  
The poor boy gulped and nodded slowly, backing away as if from a rabid dog. Roberto followed suit, practically running to get away. She had drawn the Death card her first time in the Danger Room, and the cowled monster was worth a month of nightmares.  
  
A/N: Hey! Sorry this is a really short chapter. I just wanted to finish it. I've got more chapters in the works. I just need to flesh out Chapter 3!  
  
Cloche: clock (French)  
  
Danke: thanks (German)  
  
Merci: thanks (French)  
  
Chère: dear (French)  
  
Bouche: mouth (French)  
  
Merde: umm. dunno if this is good. don't really want to swear in English. let's say "four-letter word for feces" (French)  
  
Bien: good (French) 


	3. Wild Card

Don't own X-men, Britney Spears, Weird Al, Savage Garden, Star Wars, or anything else. Any attempt at suing me will cost more than you receive.  
  
~thought~  
  
Chapter 3: Wild Card  
  
A tremor rolled through the mansion. Anne toppled to the floor in an instant, but jumped up immediately afterwards. There were no fault lines in the east coast, right? So why the earthquake? Oh no! It's the end of the world!  
  
Amara and Rahne ran by, hopping into their uniform boots. "What's Avalanche doing?"  
  
"Shaking us up." Rahne glanced at the window. "Looks like the whole Brotherhood is at our gate!"  
  
Amara leaped in one of her strides. "All right! This is gonna rock!" Both girls giggled as they ran off.  
  
Anne looked out the window and saw a motley group of boys and a girl in strange uniforms walking purposefully through the broken gate. She supposed that these were the presently mentorless Brotherhood of Mutants that she had heard so much about. Most of the X-Men were already outside, facing off against the visitors.  
  
Cyclops asked the obligatory question, "What do you think you're doing here?"  
  
The Brotherhood guys looked to Lance to answer. "We haven't fought much lately, and I thought that you X-geeks were out of practice too."  
  
A feral grin spread slowly across every one of the X-men's faces in response. Tarot peeled her eyes away from the window and made her way to the nearest exit. When she had made her way to where the others were, the fight had already begun.  
  
Well, actually, the fight had begun for some students. Doug was simply standing off to the side, typing on a laptop. Wait, no. Tarot listened more carefully to his muttering.  
  
"Zero zero zero one one zero one one one one one one zero zero zero zero zero."  
  
If she didn't know better, Tarot would think that he was speaking binary, but she figured that it wasn't possible. Then, as Doug pressed enter, the outdoor training session fired up. ~Ohhh kaay. So he was talking to the computer. That's fine. I think.~  
  
The students were turning the front yard of the mansion into a war zone. Grenades and everything! Magma had pitted herself against Toad, and had quickly melted his sneakers to the pavement. Amara decided that gloating was in order.  
  
"What? Little Toady can't jump? Too ba- Hey!" she yelled as a glob of slime hit her face.  
  
Tarot simply leaned against the building. No one had noticed her yet, and she really just wasn't in the fighting mood. Better to watch these children fall on their arses than get involved.  
  
Tabby was facing-off against Rogue, and their fight had turned into Rogue dodging Boom-boom's little cherry bombs. Her many hours in the Danger Room finally paid off in the elaborate handsprings and flips.  
  
Gambit charged up a Joker and gave Pietro a challenging glare.  
  
"Do y' feel lucky? Well, do y', punk?" Remy quoted. He began to flick the card at Quicksilver when Rogue's flipping (A/N: No, that is not a stand- in for a swear word) form caught his eye. He stood poised and admired the way her uniform conformed to her body, her flexibility, and her intense concentration.  
  
Pietro appeared in front of Gambit. He had come to fight, and now this guy wasn't even paying attention to perfect Quicksilver. "Hello! What are you doing?" He followed Gambit's line of sight. The guy's eyes followed Rogue step for step. "Are you checking out Rogue? You're not going to flirt- Eew! No! You are! Eew! Rogue flirting! Auggh! The mental pictures! Getemoutgetemoutgetemout!"  
  
The battles going on around the two guys stopped at this sudden outburst. Gambit furiously tossed the card at Quicksiver, who easily avoided the missile. Rogue paused and almost got hit by one of Tabby's cherry bombs.  
  
Anne didn't care. So what if the Southerners flirted? These students were gossiping in the midst of a fight; it was as if they didn't care about any feuds. Then she looked to where Scott was fighting a brown-haired teen wearing a punch bowl on his head. They were totally focused on their battle, shouting idealistic insults at each other in between blows.  
  
It would have looked cool, but Avalanche's earthquake caused Scott to lose his balance. No one can look cool when they say, "Come to the light side!" wavering like a drunk.  
  
Anne scowled. What had she ever seen in this place? Sure it was richly decorated, but that didn't account for the scum floating around the grounds. She didn't do anything to deserve this. She didn't have to live here with these children just because of mutant powers. She could get her own place! "Forget this. I'm leaving." Anne waited for people to realize what she had said.  
  
The battles raged on as fiercely as ever. A spike from Evan landed at her feet.  
  
"Ugh." Tarot drew a card from her deck, the High Priestess. "Perfect." A tall, imposing woman materialized in the center of all the battles, and its mere presence caused the surrounding tussles to slowly stop. Anne finally stepped away from the building. "You are all disgusting! Fighting for the hell of it? Wearing uniforms? Next thing you know, you'll be tattooing 'X- Men' on your back and yelling 'West Side'!" She placed her hands on her hips. "I'm not staying around long enough to be brainwashed. I'm out of here."  
  
One of the Brotherhood guys (I think it was Toad) shouted, "All right! We get another Brotherhood gal! You X-geeks suck!"  
  
With a wave of her hand, Tarot set her monster on "All right!". "I am not joining you losers. You don't really think that I'm going to hop from one mutant gang to another mutant gang."  
  
"Gang?" Cyclops stepped forward. "We're not a gang. Anne, you can't leave the X-Men. The professor can help you with your powers!"  
  
Tarot pointed directly at Cyclops, and her High Priestess stepped menacingly towards him. Both teams stepped back. "I can deal with my mutation just fine!"  
  
Jamie asked, "So, what are you going to do?"  
  
She sneered, "I'm going to be a wild card." She placed the High Priestess back into her deck. The monster disappeared. "I'll be coming back later to pick up my things."  
  
**  
  
After having booked a hotel room for the night, Anne was packing suitcases and cardboard boxes with her possessions. She stuffed clothes into the nearest receptacle and reached her hand out for the next item. It happened to be an old teddy bear that had seen better days. Her face softened as she regarded this remnant of her childhood.  
  
"Rusty! There you were." She gave the little bear a cuddle as she said, "We're moving again."  
  
She hid Rusty when there was an apologetic knock on the doorjamb. Her features froze into her customary expression, and she asked, "What do you want?" She turned around to face Doug.  
  
He shifted uncomfortably, both hands behind his back. Tarot's shoulders tensed. She had learned not to trust anyone with his or her hands out of range. "So, you're really leaving, huh?" He studied the carpet near his feet. It was scorched in an interesting pattern. "You gonna leave Bayville, too?"  
  
Anne sighed. "Can't. I have to finish the school year here. I'm going to rent an apartment as soon as I can find one."  
  
Doug smiled. "Then you'll still be around." Anne turned back around to continue packing. "Aren't you going to your going-away party? It's starting up downstairs."  
  
"No. They're celebrating the fact that I'm leaving. I don't want to be around that."  
  
"Oh. Well, um," he said as his eyes darted left and right. "Here!" Doug thrust an azalea at her. The salmon petals were on the verge of wilting. "It's a. going-away gift. I'd have gotten you something better, but." His cheeks burned as he admitted, "I'm kinda broke, right now."  
  
Anne didn't even turn around as she told him, "Uh huh. Have fun at the party. See you around." Doug's spirit sank at this dismissal. The azalea slipped from his fingers and he trudged away, tail between his legs.  
  
Tarot stood up and stared at the doorway Doug had just left. He sounded like he had gone to so much trouble for the little flower lying on the carpet. She scooped her hand under the blossom and cradled it to her chest.  
  
A soft little smile found its way onto her face.  
  
**  
  
Downstairs, the party was in full swing. Jubilee was busy hanging up the last of the decorations. Her little pyrotechnic additions to Anne's N*Sync posters clashed beautifully with the electric pink and turquoise backgrounds. One of the posters might have had signatures, if the signatures read JC (smudge), Chr(smear), and so on and so forth.  
  
Jean was dancing up a storm to Britney Spears' "Stronger". Scott was dancing with her, with much less exuberance. A chorus of boos threatened to drown out the song. Jamie ran towards the sound system and changed CD's.  
  
A long, long time ago, In a galaxy far away Naboo was under an attack. And I thought me and Qui-Gon Jinn Could talk the Federation in To maybe cutting them a little slack  
  
"Jamie!" Jean gave her patented Ice-GlareTM to Jamie, who had the good sense to run. "I liked that song! How dare you put in Weird Al?"  
  
"Weird who?" Rahne asked.  
  
"A parody singer." Bobby informed her. "Jean, Weird Al rocks. You know that!" He began dancing and singing along, and most of the other kids joined in. Jean crossed her arms and pouted.  
  
When the song ended, someone snuck a CD of Savage Garden in, and the song "I Knew I Loved You" began to play. Kids began to pair off for the slow song. Rogue sat off in the corner, tapping her foot in time to the music. This was an okay song, and at least Jean was no longer playing that awful Britney Spears junk.  
  
"Rogue? Were y' listenin'?"  
  
Rogue looked up to see Remy's gloved hand held out to her. "Ah'm sorry. What did ya say?"  
  
"Would y' like t' dance?" Remy continued to hold his outstretched arm towards her. She tried to answer, but one memory held her back.  
  
Cody.  
  
Remy's gloved hand morphed into Cody's bare hand. She looked up in shock at Remy's face. Cody stared back. Rogue did the only thing she could.  
  
She ran.  
  
**  
  
Remy weaved his way around the dancers, following Rogue's barrage of emotions. All he got from her was fear and confusion, but it was enough to go on. He found her hugging her knees next to the pool, the soft blue light swirling up at her. He eased himself down near her, stretching out a bit. Rogue retreated more into herself.  
  
Worried, Remy asked, "Gambit say somet'in wrong?"  
  
Rogue turned her back on Remy. He waited for her to speak, but all that came were waves of sadness. He inched his way towards her and tentatively placed his hand on her shoulder. He almost spoke, but she murmured, "Ya don't know mah power, do ya?"  
  
"Never came up, chère."  
  
"Ah'm a leech. Ah steal people's lives."  
  
"Lives?" She nodded. "What happened on de dance floor?"  
  
Rogue sighed. "Back at home- in Caldecott- there was this boy, Cody, an' he asked me to dance. He wasn't really mah type. Ah mean, he was a jock! Anyways, we danced a little, and it was. great. Then this jerk pushes me down, an' Cody reaches out to help me. He- he doesn't. He touches mah skin and passes out." She shivered. "Ah wasn't really me, anymore. He, his memories, his abilities were all Ah knew. He didn't take over completely, but he hasn't left, either." She hugged her knees even tighter to her chest. "And everyone Ah absorb still swims in mah head."  
  
Remy reached around her back and wrapped her up in a hug. Three tears fell from her eyes as she turned around to hug him back.  
  
**  
  
Doug escaped from the party. Sure, he liked the last song, but he really wasn't in the mood for celebration. He walked up the stairs and down the hall to his room. As he passed Anne's room, he sneaked a peek in the doorway. Anne wasn't in the room at the moment, but the amount of clanging in the bathroom said she was probably returning soon.  
  
He memorized every detail of the room, from the half-packed clothes, to the completely unmade bed. He wouldn't really have any more reasons to look into this room any more. His gaze slid to Rusty, and then a water bottle on the dresser. In the water bottle was his azalea, looking much perkier in the water.  
  
Doug couldn't find any word in any language to describe what he was feeling. Slowly, he walked backwards to his room, unable to keep his eyes off Anne's door.  
  
**  
  
Kitty cornered Rogue. The girl had been avoiding her all night! "So???"  
  
Rogue gazed back. "So. What?"  
  
Kitty groaned. Rogue could act so dense sometimes! "Everyone is talking about how you and Remy disappeared from the party. Are you, you know, dating?"  
  
"No! We're just friends."  
  
"Riiiiiiiight." Rogue treated her to an evil glare. Kitty crossed her arms. "Like, just yesterday you said you hated his guts!"  
  
"So I don't now. Ah just found out that he's actually a nahce guy."  
  
"Well, let me know when this 'nice guy' asks you on a date, 'k?"  
  
"Arrrgh!" There was no satisfying the little busybody! Rogue threw up her hands and stomped into the kitchen.  
  
**  
  
A/N: Flowers mean something. Didn't know that, did you? Well, the reason I chose an azalea is because that flower means "first love". All together: Awwwwwww!  
  
Flyby Stardancer, kar: thank you! Wee!  
  
Ironbite: Yes, Doug is cool. Yes, he's the butt of most of the jokes. And I'll try to be nicer, but Tarot doesn't want to be. I can't control my characters.  
  
starlightz6: Thank you, hope you get more sleep soon.  
  
Trinity Nails: Taa daa! Here's more! I admit, Remy is based a bit on someone I know: my boyfriend. (I love you!) Well, I had to sneak that one in there.  
  
More will be coming as soon as I write the next chapter for A Lesson of Acceptance. 


End file.
